ANNAPOLIS, MD and RICHMOND, VA, U.S. — April xx, 2014 —Quality Matters, a leader in quality assurance for online education and SoftChalk, LLC, a leading developer of software solutions for eLearning announced their collaboration to increase awareness of Best Practices in Online Course Design among educators. The collaboration will begin with a series of co-hosted webinars emphasizing the use of Quality Matters standards and SoftChalk’s content authoring platform to create high quality online learning experiences. The webinar series will culminate with co-hosted “Best of Best Practices in Online Course Design” sessions on October 1, 2014 during the intersection of the Quality Matters and SoftChalk Conferences at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore, MD.

Registration is now open for the first “Best Practices in Online Course Design” webinar and for the Quality Matters and SoftChalk conferences.

Quality Matters’ 6th Annual Conference on Quality Assurance in Online Learning, “Charting the Course”, will take place September 29 – October 1. The inaugural SoftChalk User Conference will take place October 1 – 2.

Attendees from a variety of sectors are expected including higher education, continuing education, K-12 education, corporations, government and military. The international audience of conference-goers will have opportunities to attend presentations by practitioners and thought leaders sharing ideas around quality assurance in online learning and take advantage of numerous networking opportunities.

Early Bird registration for the 6th Annual Quality Matters Conference, which features a discounted rate, is open until July 23. Following the early-bird registration, interested parties will still be able to register for each conference until October 1, 2014. Discounted, combined registration rates are also available to users attending both conferences.

“QM’s annual conference offers innovative opportunities for interaction and engagement across disciplines,” said Deb Adair, QM’s Managing Director and Chief Planning Officer. “Educators, institutions and service providers can share ideas and leverage emerging tools and products to improve the way they teach, learn and work. Our back-to-back conference with SoftChalk and its users provides an efficient and effective way for all members to participate in a community focused on quality in teaching and learning.

“We are very happy to be collaborating with Quality Matters on planning these exciting new opportunities for our users. Both the webinar series and conferences should inspire and motivate educators to adopt these best practices into their own online courses,” said Sue Evans, CEO of SoftChalk.
About SoftChalk
SoftChalk, LLC is an award-winning provider of e-Learning software for worldwide education and business institutions. Specializing in the development of intuitive, easy-to-use tools, SoftChalk products allow instructors to create powerful and professional-looking content for e-Learning and smart classrooms in K-12, higher education and corporate training. For more information, visit www.softchalk.com.

About Quality Matters
Quality Matters (QM) is a leader in quality assurance for online education and has received national recognition for its peer-based approach to continuous improvement in online education and student learning. QM subscribers include community and technical colleges, colleges and universities, K-12 schools and systems, government agencies, corporations, and other education-related organizations. For more information, visit www.qualitymatters.org

For more information and to register for our Best Practices in Online Course Design webinars visit: http://softchalk.com/best-practices-in-online-course-design
For more information about Quality Matters’ 6th Annual Conference visit: https://www.qualitymatters.org/events/6th-annual-conference-2014-0
For more information about the inaugural SoftChalk User Conference visit: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/8HTQKa9fMBsGck/html